Lauren Sommer
Lauren Sommer covers climate change for NPR's Science Desk, from the scientists on the front lines of documenting the warming climate to the way those changes are reshaping communities and ecosystems around the world.
Prior to joining NPR, Sommer spent more than a decade covering climate and environment for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco. During her time there, she delved into the impacts of California's historic drought during dry years and reported on destructive floods during wet years, and covered how communities responded to record-breaking wildfires.
Sommer has also examined California's ambitious effort to cut carbon emissions across its economy and investigated the legacy of its oil industry. On the lighter side, she ran from charging elephant seals and searched for frogs in Sierra Nevada lakes.
She was also host of KQED's macrophotography nature series Deep Look, which searched for universal truths in tiny organisms like black-widow spiders and parasites. Sommer has received a national Edward R. Murrow for use of sound, as well as awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Based at NPR's San Francisco bureau, Sommer grew up in the West, minus a stint on the East Coast to attend Cornell University.
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The U.S. is making the largest investment in history in the country's water system. In the rush to spend, some worry green projects will be overlooked. -
The good news is that the world has solutions and technology to slow climate change. The bad news is that time is running out. -
With smushed-in faces and compact bodies, bulldogs are prone to health problems. A court in Norway recently banned breeding them, sparking an international debate. -
As the climate warms, plants bloom earlier in the spring, overlap with other species and could even start growing in new locations. That's bad news for people with pollen allergies. -
Cities are experiencing heavier storms and flooding as the climate gets hotter. But due to outdated rainfall records, many are still building infrastructure for the climate of the past. -
Despite new pledges to cut emissions, the world is not on track to hit a key climate change target of limiting warming. Scientists warn a planet that heats up more than that will look very different. -
The world's largest trees are adapted to wildfires. But with fires getting more extreme, scientists warn that giant sequoias are running out of time. -
With the global pandemic still in the spotlight, more than 200 leading health journals say climate change is an even more urgent threat. -
Another destructive fire season has Western states searching for ways to prevent it. The Southeast just might have the answers: setting controlled fires before the wildfires come. -
Controlled burns help reduce wildfire risk by clearing out overgrown vegetation. The U.S. Forest Service is suspending them, concerning fire scientists.
